It varies a lot depending on the field. I was never particularly worried about being scooped during my PhD. I think that's because there were/are few people wor

It varies a lot depending on the field. I was never particularly worried about being scooped during my PhD. I think that's because there were/are few people working on the same problem. To give an example: One idea I've been working on lately is in a very narrow field where almost no one has the background to do it. (I consider myself barely qualified.) Someone publishes something similar perhaps a few times each decade. I'm really not worried about being scooped on this. I've thought before that whatever paper I write on this is basically written for someone a decade or more in the future, as possibly no contemporary researchers will care.